Automatic electric toaster



March 17, 1953 B. G. oLvlNG 2,631,523

AUTOMATIC ELECTRIC ToAST'ER Filed April ll, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet l March 17; 1953 B. G. oLvlNG 2,631,523

AUTOMATIC ELECTRIC ToAsTER Filed April 11, 1947 Y 5 sheets-sheet 2 March 17, 1953 B. G. OLVING AUTOMATIC ELECTRIC TOASTER 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April ll, 1947 LTT'Y m. w n w.

Patented Mar. 17, 1953 UNITED ST'i'rlS AUTOMATIC ELECTRIC TOASTER Delaware Application April 11, 1947, Serial No. 740,788

6 Claims.

My invention relates to electric toasters.

An object of my invention is to provide an electric toaster with light-sensitive means for terminating a toasting cycle.

Another object oi my invention is to provide an electric toaster having a novel form of means for transmitting light from a slice of bread being toasted to a light-sensitive cell.

Another object of my invention is to provide a novel and relatively simple construction in an electric toaster using a light-sensitive cell as a means for terminating a toasting cycle.

Other objects of my invention will either be apparent from a description of several forms oi device embodying my invention or will be pointed out in the course of such description and be set forth in the appended claims.

In the drawings,

Figure l is a vertical lateral sectional View of an electric toaster embodying my invention, taken on the line l-l of Fig. 4,

Fig. 2 is a modification, shown on a reduced scale, of the device shown in Fig. l,

Fig. 3 is a modication of the device shown in Fig. 2,

Fig. i is a vertical sectional View taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. l,

Fig. 5 is a vertical lateral sectional view on a reduced scale, showing a two-slice toaster, and

Fig. 6 is a diagram of electrical circuits for control or the toaster of Figs. 1 and 4.

The toaster embodying my invention depends upon the termination of a toasting operation which is controlled by electronic means of the photo-electric cell type. The mechanical arrangement and thermal association of the parts, as well as the layout of the electric circuits and its components, are all new and novel. The automatic termination of a toasting operation is determined entirely by a change in color oi the pieces of toast produced thereby-that is, the length of a toasting cycle is controlled directly by a change in the physical condition oi the pieces of bread being toasted in contrast to the indirect type of timing means employed in the toasters now on the market.

The toaster control circuit described in this disclosure employs a photo-electric element responsive to the visible light spectrum. I am aware of an earlier patent doing substantially the same thing but I wish to here point out that that patent does not show any specific means for accomplishing the result desired, whereas my invention discloses several means for accomplishing the desired result.

The various electronic parts and components required for the circuit, such as lthe photo-electric element, the amplifier tube and the relay, are available in the present day market at a reasonable cost the mechanical assembly of the various parts presents no difculty. All of these component parts are of reliable and time-tested design and are rugged and sufciently strong to withstand normal abuse and handling over long periods oi time.

Broadly, visible light generated by specially designed heating elements is reflected from a slice of bread being toasted, enters an optical system through a light-condensing lens facing a large portion of a slice or bread and is reflected by a prism or a small mirror or is conveyed as piped light through a transparent light conductor to the aperture ci a photo-electric cell located preferably in the bottom compartment of a toaster. The electric current passing through the photocell acts as a trigger for an ampli-ner tube ycapable or" operating a relay controlling the main switch of the toaster.

The type of circuit employed is such that the 1 relay will open the toaster circuit when the light reiiected from a slice of bread decreases to a low critical value-that is, when the toast has been browned to sufficient degree. The critical value at which the relay operates can be adjusted to any desired value by turning the control knob of one of the resistors in the circuit, thereby making it possible to change the degree of toasting or browning over any range desired.

Referring now to Fig. l and Fig. 4 of the drawings, I have there illustrated a toaster, designated in its entirety by numeral il and comprising a base i3 which may be of some plastic material and which has mounted on and secured to its upper surface a base member l5 which is preferably made of thin sheet metal and is of substantially inverted disc shape. I provide also an outer casing il' which is provided with a slot I9 in its upper portion to permit of introducing a slice of bread 2i into the toaster and of removing the toasted slice of bread atthe end of a toasting operation. I provide also a lower plate 23 secured to the lower surface of member i3, this plate being provided with a plurality ci louvres 25 to permit of a draft of cooling air to llow into the toaster casing and upwardly and outwardly through opening it. While I have not shown details of the outer casing l? I desire it to be understood that any kind of outer casing may be used.

I provide a plurality of toast heating elements 2l, 29, 3| and 33 which are located one at the top and one at the bottom of the toasting chamber at each side of a slice of bread to be toasted. Each of the heating elements is of generally rod shape and they may be made of resistance wire wound upon a dielectric support or they may be plain carbonaceous rods having the desired resistance.

Each of the toast heating elements 27, 29, 3| and 33 is located on or in the focal axis of four parabolic heat refiectors 35, 3l, 39 and el which extend from a rear intermediate wall i3 to a front intermediate wall l5 and are secured thereto. The general shape of each parabolic heating reilector is such as to leave a rectangular opening or slit d? between the lower edge of the upper reflectors 35 and 39 and the upper edge of the lower reilectors 3l and lll. The parabolic reiiectors may be made of a metal having a highly polished inner surface for eiilcient reflection of the heat and light rays generated by the toast heating elements and it is a very desirable condition that the parabolic reflectors be rectangular and retain a highly polished inner surface for an indefinite length of time of use.

As shown in Fig. l of the drawings, the heat rays reflected from one-half of the upper reflector transmit heat to approximately the upper one-third of the surface of the slice of bread, while the heat rays from the lower half of the upper reector transmit heat to the central onethird portion of the slice of bread. Considering the lower reector, the lower half of the reflector transmits heat to the lower one-third of the slice of bread being toasted, while the upper half of the lower reflector transmits heat to the central one-third portion of a slice of bread being toasted. It is evident that heat is distributed fairly uniformly over the entire surface of a slice of bread since the central portion of a slice of bread which is facing the opening il between the two reflectors is supplied with heat from both the upper and the lower heating elements. rIhe heat from the upper and lower toast heating elements thus supplement each other in such a manner that all portions or points on the surface of a slice of bread being toasted receive an approximately equal amount of heat. I desire to here point out that the contour or shape of the heat reflectors do not necessarily have to be made in the form of a mathematical parabola but may deviate from such a cross-section in order to produce the most practical and uniform distribution of heat over the entire surface of a slice of bread being toasted.

A lens 49, made of heat-resisting glass, is mounted in the open space between the two reflectors 35 and 3'! so that the face of the lens is parallel with the surface of a slice or" bread and is located opposite the center of a slice of bread. The lens 49 is of the wide-angle type in order to see a major portion of the surface .of a slice of bread, that is, visible light rays from almost all of the bread surface can be seen by the lens.

A photo-electric cell 5l is located in a relatively cool portion of the bottom compartment of the toaster and a right angle prism 53, which is preferably made of heat-resisting glass, reflects the light rays from the lens e9 to the photoelectric cell 5|. I have shown in Fig. l of the drawings a fixture 55 for supporting both the lens 49 and the right angle prism 59, fixture te being supported by reflectors 35 and 3l in opening all therebetween. I may here point out that the louvres 25 are adapted to aid in maintaining the temperature of the light-sensitive cell 5| at a relatively low value by the cool air flowing therethrough, as hereinbefore set forth. A tube 5l is adapted to conduct the light from prism 53 to light-sensitive cell 5 I.

I provide a plurality of guide or guard wires 59 for holding slices of bread substantially centrally 4between the opposed pairs of upper and lower toast heating elements.

I provide a bread carrier 6|, with its rear end portion adapted to move in a slot 63 in the rear intermediate wall t3 and its front portion moving in a similar slot in the front intermediate wall 45. Means for supporting said bread carrier 9i comprises a vertical cylindrical rod 65, the upper end of which is supported by a bracket 6l while its lower end is supported by member |5. A carriage 69 is adapted to slide on rod iii, carrier t3! being normally biased into a non-toasting position as by a coil spring l'i having its upper end secured to bracket S? while its lower end is hooked into the front portion of carrier 6|. A knob 'i3 is secured to carrier 65| in front of the front wall of outer casing il so that the user of the toaster may move the bread carrier 6| into toasting or lower position substantially as shown by bread slice 2| in Fig. 1 of the drawings.

A main switch 'i9 of the toaster comprises two fixed contacts 'il and I9 and a contact-bridging member Si mounted on the carrier 6| and adapted to engage the two xed contacts 'H and 'i9 when an operator has pressed downwardly on knob 'I3 and has moved carrier 6| into its lower or toasting position. A latch 83 mounted on carriage 69 is adapted to engage with a catch which is of rod shape and has its lower end pivotally mounted on a bracket 97 secured to the front wall of member te. A short coil spring 89 biases the catch 85 to its latching position.

The photo-electric cell 5| comprises a lightsensitive cathode 9i and an anode 93. When the cathode 9| is exposed to light rays, free electrons are emitted therefrom and if the anode 93 is energiaed these electrons are attracted by and to the anode, thereby varying the conductivity of the photo-electric cell 5I.

An ampliiier tube of the grid controlled rectiiier type is indicated at 95, the filament of the tube being indicated by 97, the cathode by 99, the control grid by il, the shield grid by |93, and the anode by |05. The filament 91 is energized by a small secondary winding |01 of a transformer |99.

I provide supply circuit terminals l i and ||3 to energize the toast heating elements as well as the transformer |09 when the main switch T5 has been closed as hereinbefore described. A conductor i5 connects terminal to fixed contact 'i9 while fixed contact Ti is connected by a conductor Hl to one terminal of the primary winding of transformer |09, the other terminal of which is connected by a conductor ||9 with the second contact terminal I3 of the toaster.

A grid controlled rectier tube of the type hereinbefore set forth, assuming the lament 97 to be heated and a positive potential applied to the anode, will remain non-conducting as long as the grid lill is biased more negatively than a predetermined critical value, but becomes conducting as soon as the negative bias decreases below this value. Once conduction through such a tube starts the grid has no further control and current will pass through the tube as long as its plate, or anode potential, remains positive. v

Conductor and terminal 11 are connected by a conductor |2| to the upper terminal of a voltage divider, designated generally by numeral |23 and comprising three separate resistors |25, |21 and |29 connected in series circuit relatively to each other, the other end of resistor |29 being connected to conductor H9. The anode |95 of tube 95 is connected to terminal 'i1 through a relay coil |35 and through a resistor |33. A condenser |3| is connected across the terminals of relay coil |35. The photo-electric cell 5| has its cathode 9| connected to conductor H9 at the bottom of voltage divider |23 and its anode 93 is adjustably connected to the central portion of resistor |21 of the voltage divider |23 through a resistance |31. The grid |0| of amplifier tube 95 is connected to conductor |39 which extends from anode 93 to one terminal of resistor |31. The cathode 39 and the shield grid |93 of tube 95 are connected to a conductor |4| extending from one terminal of secondary coil |91 to the junction oi resistors |21 and |29.

When the main switch is closed full line voltage is impressed across the voltage divider |23 and the filament 91 of tube 95 is energized. Part of the voltage across the voltage divider between its upper end and the junction of resistors |21 and |29 is impressed between the cathode 99 and the anode |95 of the amplifier tube 35. Voltage from the voltage divider is also impressed .1

across the photo tube 5|, between the adjustable tap |43 connected to one end of the resistor |31 and the lower end of voltage divider |23. it is to be noted that when the toaster is energized from an alternating current source of supply of electric energy, positive potential is supplied to the anodes of the photo tube and of the amplifier tube on every other half cycle only and the operation of the control circuit will therefore be caused at the time when the upper end of voltage divider |23 is at positive potential.

At such positive half cycles the anodes of both the photocell tube 5| and of ampliiier tube 95 are at positive potential and the cathodes are at negative potential. rI'he control grid |9| of amplifier tube 95 is biased negatively with respect to the cathode 99 by reason of the voltage drop through the lower portion |29 of voltage divider |23, which voltage is impressed on the grid |9| through the photocell 5|. It should be noted that resistance |31 in series with the photocell 5|, is connected in parallel with theresistance between tap |33 on resistor |21 and resistor |29 of the voltage divider |23. The resistance of the photocell 5| increases when the amount of light falling on photocell 5| decreases and the amount of negative grid bias on amplifier tube 95 therefore decreases with a decrease in illumination of photocell 5|. The tap |43 on voltage divider |23 is therefore adjusted so that negative bias on grid |0| decreases to its critical value at the time when a piece of toast in the toasting member reaches the desired coloring or browning.

To produce toast of various shades of browning, such as light, medium or dark, it is only necessary to move the adjustable tap |33 on the voltage divider. If lighter toast is desired the voltage tap |33 is moved downwardly in the diagram shown in Fig. 6, and if darker toast is desired the voltage tap |43 is moved upwardly.

The condenser |3| connected in parallel to relay coil |35 is preferably of five microfarads capacitance and is used to produce a fairly uniform pull over the complete A. C. cycle, and resistance |33 may have a resistance of approxi- 6 mately 1500 ohms to limit the load current through amplifier tube 95.

Relay coil |35 is provided with an armature |45 pivotally connected to catch 35, and when energized is adapted to move catch 35 in a counter-clockwise direction to release latch 83 and permit spring 1| to move bread carrier 3| and a slice of bread thereon into its upper o1' non-toasting position.

Practical values of the various resistors may be substantially as follows: Resistor |31 may have five megohms resistance, resistor |29 may have 150 ohms resistance, resistor |21 may have 2000 ohms resistance and resistance |25 may have 3000 ohms resistance. The photocell tube 5| may be of the gas or o the vacuum type and the amplier tube may be of the gas-nlled, grid-controlled rectifier type.

Referring now to Fig. 2 of the drawings, I have there illustrated a modified form of toaster embodying my invention and comprising a pair of toast heating elements 21 and 29 together with substantially parabolic reectors 35 and 31 for heating and toasting one side of a slice of bread 2|, while the other side of a slice of bread may be toasted by a planar heating element M1.

The optical system is also slightly modiiied and comprises a rod ide having its upper and substantially vertically extending end formed to the curvature of a convex lens and its lower end dat. The upper end is adapted to be positioned between the lower edge or upper reflector 35 and the upper edge of lower reflector 3i while its lower end is located adjacent to photocell 5|. riihe upper and lower ends oi tube les permit the entrance and exit respectively of light rays reflected from a slice of bread being toasted. The outside cylindrical walls of the optical part must be highly polished to reect outward bound light rays and to propagate all such rays within the outer walls. Material suitable for tube |39 is available at the present time and may for instance comprise methyl methacrylate, a plastic now made by Rohm & Haas Company. The light rays from one side of bread slice 2| may be considered as being piped from the surface of the lens-formed aperture to the fiat surface of tubular member |39, ending directly above or in front of the photo-electric cell 5|.

Referring now to Fig. 3 of 'the drawings, I have there illustrated a still further modification ci toaster embodying my invention in which a photocell 5| is adapted to be positioned between the upper reflector 35 and a lower reflector 31, the rest of the details of construction of the toaster being substantially the same as that shown in Fig. 2.

Referring now to Fig. 5 of the drawings, I there show a still further modification of toaster embodying my invention. The casing |5| is provided with two slots |53 and |55 so that two slices of bread 2| and |53 may be simultaneously toasted. Two photocell tubes 5| are positioned in lsubstantially the same position as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. lanar heating elements |59 are provided to toast respectively the inner surfaces of the two slices ci bread 2| and |51.

Instead of having the parabolic reflectors mounted at the top and at the bottom of the toasting compartment they may be arranged vertically along the two vertical edges, thereby permitting the optic system 'to be subjected to a draft of cool air throughout its full length, which is particularly advantageous when einploying a plastic optical system.

Various modifications may be made in the device embodying my invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof and I desire that all such modifications coming clearly within the scope of the appended claims shall be considered a part of my invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. An automatic toaster comprising two heatradiating spaced-apart elements facing the outside surface of a slice of bread being toasted, a

reflector for each element to cause the heat from each element to be radiated over a part of said slice larger than one-half of said outside surface of said slice of bread, a Wide angle lens positioned between said elements and adapted te receive light rays reiiected from a major portion of said slice surface, a photo-electric cell and means controlled by said photo-electric cell for terminating a toasting operation, said lens being aligned with the space between said elements for receiving light directly from said slice.

2. In an electric toaster comprising means for supporting a slice of bread, heating means for toasting said bread, and means responsive to light reflected from the bread for controlling a toasting operation, the improvement wherein said heating means comprise a pair of elongated heating elements for one side of such a slice, and a pair of elongated reectors lying substantially parallel and facing said side, said reflectors being spaced apart, and wherein the control means comprise a Wide angle lens in the opening between said reflectors adapted to receive light rays reiiected from a major portion of said bread surface and light responsive means adapted to receive light transmitted through said lens.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said tWo spaced reiiectors are tilted toward the center of the slice position so that their beams converge slightly for providing a uniform distribution of heat over the entire face of a slice of' bread being toasted.

4. An automatic electric toaster comprising a casing housing a toasting compartment, two heat-radiating spaced-apart elements adapted to face the outer surface of a slice of bread being toasted in said compartment, a reiiector for each heating element adapted to cause the heat from each element to be radiated over a part of the outer surface of said bread slice larger than half the area of the bread slice, the reiiectors for the heating elements dening between them a space facing the central area of the outside surface of the bread slice for transmitting light reflected directly from at least the central area of the outside surface of the bread slice in response to heating by said heating elements, a photoelectric cell responsive to reflected light from the bread slice transmitted through said space, a base housing a relatively cool base compartment having openings for circulating air therethrough and said base compartment housing the photo-electric cell, means for transmitting reflected light from said space to the photo-electric cell in said base compartment, and means controlled by said photo-electric cell for terminating a toasting operation.

5. The structure as set forth in claim 1 including means dening a light path from said lens to a relatively cool portion of the toaster, said light responsive means being located in said cool portion for receiving the light transmitted through said lens and said light path defining means.

6. The structure as set forth in claim 1 including a prism in the path of the light rays passing through said lens for redirecting said light to said light responsive means, said light responsive means being located in a relatively cool portion of said toaster.

BROR G. OLVING.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,556,288 Ledig Oct. 6, 1925 1,656,848 Wyatt Jan. 17, 1928 1,955,026 Savage Apr. 17, 1934 1,972,682 Fitzgerald Sept. 4, 1934 2,048,740 Geeken et al July 28, 1936 2,110,748 Tweedale Mar. 8, 1938 2,139,489 Cockrell Dec. 6, 1938 2,262,498 Holm-Hansen Nov. 11, 1941 2,275,265 Mead Mar. 3, 1942 2,315,327 Gomersall Mar. 30, 1943 2,341,546 Hagenbook Feb. 15, 1944 2,415,963 Olving Feb. 18, 1947 2,436,575 Johnson Feb. 24, 1948 2,459,169 Kooi Jan. 18, 1949 

